Corrugated closure for rubber footwear



July 31, 1956 M. C. TEAGU E CORRUGATED CLOSURE FOR RUBBER FOOTWEAR Filed Oct. 9, 1952 ATTORNEY United States Patent CORRUGATED CLOSURE FOR RUBBER FOOTWEAR Merwyn C. Teague, Sparta, N. J., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of N ew Jersey.

.Applicafion October 9, 1952, Serial No. 313,830

4 Claims. (CI. 36-73) This invention relates to a corrugated closure having a transverse elastic web, and in particular to an article of rubber footwear having such a closure which forms an elastically expansible foot opening in the footwear upper.

A fabric which is corrugated or pleated may be expanded readily by the simple expedient of unfolding the pleats. In recognition of the usefulness of this characteristic of pleated fabrics, articles of footwear have heretofore been made with a pleated foot opening therein. For example, a leg embracing portion of the shoe upper has been made with pleats or a pleated portion which may be expanded to accommodate the configuration of the foot in donning and doifing the shoe. Since the nature of the use of such articles which require an expansible opening, also requires that this opening be held constricted at other times, these corrugated openings heretofore have been provided with snaps, buckles, elastic bands and the like to hold the corrugated portions constricted when required.

The present invention contemplates a pleated or corrugated closure having a thin elastic web extending transversely of the pleats and fixed to adjacent folds of the pleats which hold elastically the pleats in a collapsed condition. In its more specific nature, this invention contemplates an article of rubber footwear in which the upper has a pleated portion forming a part of the upper, and which has a thin elastic web extending transversely of the pleated portion which joins adjacent folds of the pleats. The opening of this footwear may be easily expanded to permit insertion of the foot, and the upper will elastically embrace the foot or the leg to hold the footwear in position and to keep foreign matter out of the footwear.

For a better understanding of these and other features of this invention, reference should be had to the following description and the accompanying drawing wherein;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an overshoe having a corrugated closure according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the corrugated portion of the overshoe of Fig. 1 on line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the disposition of the thin elastic web extending transversely of and between the corrugations; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross section of a corrugation and the several elastic webs extending between the corrugations.

Referring now to the drawing and to Fig. lin particular there is shown an overshoe having an upper portion 11, an opening 16 and a vamp portion 12. The upper 11 has corrugations or pleats 14 extending from the edge of the opening 16 substantially to the vamp portion 12. Since the pleats 14 are formed of a folded continuous sheet of material they will expand to enlarge the opening 16 when a lateral force is applied to the upper 11. Referring now to Fig. 2, the pleats 14 are joined to each other on the inside of the shoe by a thin elastic web integral with the shoe which holds elastically the ribs 14 in a collapsed condition. If a tensile force is applied to the corrugations 14, such as occurs when the walls of the upper are pulled laterally, the portions of the corrugations 18 between the webs 15 will un- 2,756,516 Patented July 31, 1956 fold and expand readily. However, the portions of the corrugations 14 to which the webs 15 are atfixed maybe expanded or straightened only by stretching the elastic webs 15, and when the force necessary to stretch the webs is removed the thin elastic webs 15 will collapse the pleats 14 to their unstressed condition. Thus the opening 16 of the footwear will expand when force is applied thereto, but it will collapse under the action of the webs 15 When that force is removed.

A rubber overshoe such as that shown inthe drawing may be made easily, for the construction shown may be manufactured by a dipping process. In forming rubber articles by a dipping process a body having the shape desired in the finished article is dipped in a dispersion of natural or synthetic rubber. When removed the body will have formed thereon a thin film of rubber. This film of rubber may be either dried or coagulated, whereupon the body is re-immersed and the process repeated until a film of rubber having the desired thickness is built up on the body. The film then is dried, or if unvulcanized rubber is used in the dispersion, it is vulcanized. The film of rubber is then stripped from the body, and trimmed to form the finished footwear as desired. To form a rubber footwear having the corrugations 14 and the webs 15 as in this invention, a body is shaped in the form of the footwear desired having projecting fins adapted to form the corrugations or pleats 14. Transverse slits are cut through the fins to the depth which is desired in the rib 15 of the finished footwear, and preferably to the base of the fins. When this body is dipped in a dispersion of rubber a thin film will be formed thereon having the contours of the projecting fins and having a thin web of rubber where the slits occur connecting the pleats 14 formed by the fin. When this fihn is stripped from the body it will have the form of the overshoe shown in the drawings.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have invented a novel corrugated closure which may be expanded readily, but which will collapse elastically to a constricted condition when unstressed. More particularly it will be apparent that I have invented a corrugated closure which when applied to rubber footwear may be expanded readily to permit easy insertion of the foot, but which when unstressed will be collapsed elastically to hold the footwear efiectively in place. A footwear having such a closure may be manufactured simply and efiiciently.

Although I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention it will be apparent that modifications thereof which do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly I do not wish to be limited by the scope of the foregoing described embodiment but only by the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Dipped rubber footwear having an elastic expansible foot opening therein, comprising a dipped rubber upper having collaspible corrugations therein, said corrugations being adapted when unfolded to expand the periphery of the upper to permit easy insertion of a foot into the footwear, and an elastic thin rubber web integral with the upper and extending transversely of said corrugations, said web being in spaced relation to the edge of the upper forming the mouth of said footwear and substantially filling the space between adjacent folds of the corrugations.

2. A rubber overshoe having an expansible opening therein, comprising a rubber overshoe upper having a pleated portion extending a substantial distance longitudinally at the upper, and a plurality of thin elastic rubber webs on the inner side of said upper in spaced relation to each other and to the edge of the upper forming the foot opening, said webs extending transversely of said pleated portion and being integral with adjacent folds of the pleats of said pleated portion, whereby the pleats may be expanded against the elastic holding action of said webs to enlarge the opening in said uppera 3. Footwear having an expansible opening therein, comprising 'a footwear upper having a pleated portion extending from the edge of the upper forming the opening of the footwear a substantial distance downwardly therefrom, and a thin relatively wide elastic web spaced a substantial distance frornthe top edge of the upper extending transversely of said pleated portion, said web being immovably aflixed to adjacent folds and substantialy completely filling the space between the pleats of said pleated portion, whereby said pleats may be expanded to enlarge the opening in said upper against the elastic holding action of said web:

4. In an article having an expansible wall, said wall having pleats therein extending longitudinally of the wall and to an edge thereof, a thin elastic web extending transversely of said pleats, said web being integral with and filling the space between, adjacent folds of the pleats in said wall, whereby said web elastically holds the pleats in a collapsed condition.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller May 18,-1880 378,245 Forbes Feb.21, 1888 540,703 Trimble June 11, 1895 2,059,747 

